Where are the repeaters?

[TvPat]

Here's a satellite radio question of local interest. Does anyone know where any of the XM or Sirius ground repeaters are?

I have XM. The repeaters are a huge factor in reception. I have the XM MyFi, and in many places around Columbus I can get reception inside buildings, including my office. I would not be able to do this without the repeaters.

XM and Sirius keep the locations of their repeaters very secret. There seems to be an XM repeater on the WBNS tower, but I am not sure. I have also found strong terrestrial signals near Easton and Dublin.

You can measure the strength of the signal on the XM debug screen. You get to it by turning the radio off, and then pressing 2-0-7 and then pressing in the dial. Press display until the debug screen appears. BER is the Bit Error Rate. Zero is perfect. SAT1 is the eastern satellite, SAT2 is the western satellite, and TERR is a terrestrial repeater.

Here is a site that shows how to identify an XM repeater:
http://www.telebeans.org/telco/towers/notes/xm_radio.html

I had heard that XM had many more repeaters than Sirius in Columbus, and that was the biggest factor in my purchase decision. The other was the portability of the MyFi. I just wish I knew where the repeaters were.

[dshoults]

I have a Sirius Streamer GT and noticed in the last month or so that my terrestrial signal has gone up
to 100% on my way to work. I live on the Northeast side of town and drive around 270 south to E. Broad
Street for work. I don't know if this is the downtown repeater or a new one in the northeast area, but certainly something has increased in the area.

That's complicated getting your strength of signal. With the Streamer you press Menu and go to Signal Strength...


Go SIRIUS, Jam_On

[TvPat]

This was posted on xmfan.com, but worth repeating here. It is a list of the XM repeater locations in Columbus.

Behind the water plant on Morse Rd. (across from The Limited Headquarters) 2640 watts @ 240 ft.

I-70 @ SR 256 (tower that is in the middle of the ramp from 70E to 256 North. 2300 watts @ 190 ft.

The tower that is at the Columbus Motor Speedway (SE side) 4580 watts @ 121 ft.

U.S. 23 North of Lazelle Rd. (behind Nissan North/Auto Body Collision) 6040 watts @ 169 Ft.

A 5th location, but no coordinates given for it. Probably in the OSU/Downtown area (I get expecially strong repeater between the WBNS-TV and WSYX-TV towers). Listed as 4800 watts @ 140 ft.

[TvPat]

By the way, according to this document, Sirius has one repeater in Columbus.
http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/servlet/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=-83267 (http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/servlet/ib.page.FetchAttachment?attachment_key=-83267)

It is at 39-57-47 Lat -82-59-46 Long, which puts it on top of a building at the NE corner of North 4th St. and East Broad St. It is 5000 watts 442 HAAT.

[darkfiber]

I have Sirius. I work downtown Columbus on the 17th floor of a building. I get zero satellite signal, but I get a full terrestrial signal. I am using a Sportster Replay with a home dock at work.